Better than Nothing
by xX.Chu-Chan.Xx
Summary: The guardians are planning a surprise birthday party! And they must make sure that it will be a success. Meanwhile, Tsuna was worried his friends won't remember his birthday! Will everything work out fine? Will the guardians pull it off? Or will everything end up into a disaster? Find out! Belated Happy Bday Tsuna! CHU!


**HAPPY BIRTHDAY TSUNA!- **Was what I wanted to say four day ago... but now I have to add the word "Belated". Now, honestly, I wanted to finish this on his birthday... but sadly... *sigh*

Oh well... at least it's Better than Nothing, right? Get the joke? Haha... since...since the title... and all... and... yeah...

ENJOY!

Beta'ed by my sister... aka ilYamaTsuli and something like that =w=.. I don't remember her full author's name... so oh well!

* * *

**_Better than Nothing_**

It was another beautiful yet cold morning in the small town of Namimori. With winter about to take toll, neither one wanted to leave their soft and cozy bed. Who would?

Well... except for a certain bunch.

"I had called all of you here today for an important meeting regarding a certain important occasion!" Gokudera Hayato stood up with a stern look. All eyes just stared at him curiously.

The bomber cleared his throat, about to continue what he was to say only to be interrupted as a hand shot up. He glared at the owner, namely Yamamoto Takeshi, but gave him a nod signalling him to continue.

"Is this important occasion... Christmas?" Yamamoto asked with a huge grin, almost like a child excited to receive a prize for getting a question right. But... apparently, he was nowhere near to right as the bomber looked like he was going to explode.

"Teme..." Gokudera's voice was low and shaking with rage, "Don't tell me... YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA WHY WE'RE HERE?!"

"What's that suppose to EXTREMELY mean?" This time, it was Sasagawa Ryohei who stood up, "You just called us here without EXTREMELY explaining anything!"

Gokudera went red but retorted, "There was no need for explanation! I thought you would already know by hand! I guess I overestimated you idiots."

A murderous aura surrounded a certain prefect sitting right at the corner of the room. Piercing eyes glared at the silver-head teen. Obviously, he hated being treated nor be _called_ as an idiot. Only herbivores are idiots.

"Oi! Bakadera! You're just Lambo-san's servant! Don't call Lambo-san idiot!" Bovino Lambo hopped up on the table in front of him and rummaged through his huge afro, "Or else Lambo-san will punish you!" Fortunately, before the cow child could grab a grenade, a pair of hands grabbed him.

"N-no. Please behave." Dokuro Chrome spoke up. She perfectly knew how much damage they will have to face if they all go crazy and do a rampage.

"QUIET!" Gokudera exclaimed, successfully silencing everyone. "Seeing that all of you won't figure it out soon enough. It's actually about-"

"Tsuna's birthday right?" All eyes landed on Yamamoto. The baseball star had a serious look on his face, his eyes were sharp and were suddenly filled with focus.

Gokudera was gaping at him, he immediately snapped himself from his small shock and exclaimed, "You idiot- you knew all along!"

Suddenly the baseball star laughed and scratched the back of his head, "I actually guessed it right!"

Gokudera's jaw dropped and he could only look at the swordsman with twitching eyes.

"Eh? Sawada's birthday? When is that?" Ryohei frowned and crossed his arms, "August 14?"

Chrome pondered for a moment before muttering her own guess, "Could it be... September 22?"

"Gyahaha! I know Lambo-san's birthday!" Lambo spoke up in the mist guardian's arms, "Give Lambo-san presents and Lambo-san might tell you when!"

Hibari huffed and looked away, "October..."

This made them look at him expectantly. It would make sense that the disciplinary president of Nami-chu would know the profile of every student, especially Tsuna's.

"...ten."

"Eh..." Yamamoto blinked, "But isn't it the 12th today? So does that mean we missed it?"

_BAM!_

Gokudera had slammed the coffee table in front of him, his other hand held a bunch of dynamites and his emerald eyes seemed to gleam with pure anger and hatred, "And you dare call yourselves as Juudaime's guardians! You should be ashamed!" He took another set of dynamites with his other hand, "It's October fourteen! FOURTEEN! It's two days from now!"

"Oi Gokudera! Calm down!" Yamamoto nervously chuckled, "Of course we know when Tsuna's birthday is! We were just kidding around!"

"Don't mess with me!"

"Maa! Maa!"

"We're EXTREMELY telling the truth."

"G-gomen..."

"Gyahaha! Aho Bakadera!"

"I'll bite you to death..."

_A few minutes later..._

"Well, it's good that we had all calmed down!" Yamamoto grinned at everyone.

Chrome nodded silently, "And we were able to avoid destroying things too."

"Tch." Gokudera sat back on his position, his dynamites were back to wherever he stocks them, "If this matter wasn't so important I would've blown you to pieces."

"So anyway... what are we EXTREMELY doing here?" Ryohei, for the umpteenth time, asked.

The bomber sighed, trying to supress his anger. Honestly, they can be so dense!

"I want us to make a surprise party for Juudaime." Gokudera looked up with determination, "A surprise party that will surely make Juudaime happy!"

"That's a great idea!" Yamamoto enthusiastically pumped a fist in the air.

"P-party?" Chrome timidly murmured.

"Yay! PARTY! Lambo-san likes parties!" Lambo cheerfully said.

"But there's a catch." Gokudera continued, successfully silencing everyone, "We...need to make sure we pretend we have no idea Juudaime's birthday will be coming soon though."

Now this got everyone shocked. Ryohei was first to react, "Why to the EXTREME?"

"It will surely make the idiotic herbivore upset."

Gokudera growled, "I don't like it either but... as much as how twisted the logic may sound... once we pull the surprise party off while actually pretending we have no idea..."

"...then the more surprise Tsuna will be!" Yamamoto fortunately understood where the storm guardian was going, "That's a better idea!"

"Hmpf! What do you expect? I am Juudaime's right hand man after all." Gokudera puts a proud fist on his chest.

Hibari then muttered something like 'self-proclaimed' and 'herbivore'. Fortunately, before Gokudera could direct his glare at the prefect, for he obviously heard the muttering, Chrome rose a hand.

"H-How do we plan the surprise party?" She asked.

Gokudera directed his attention back to the topic at hand, "Simple. We try to distract Juudaime while some of us prepare for the party."

"Haha. Sounds easy enough!" Yamamoto grinned, "So who'll be distracting Tsuna?"

Gokudera looked reluctant but spoke, "I wouldn't mind doing it on my own, but you need to come along too, while the others prepare for the party. Since it's a Sunday, we can hang out with Juudaime around town or whatever while the others do the preparations."

"Sounds like an EXTREME plan to me." Ryohei grinned.

Chrome nodded in understanding while Hibari merely yawned.

"Party! PARTY!" Lambor cheered, only to be stopped as he was suddenly grabbed by the head by Gokudera, "Look ahoshi, this is a secret. So keep your mouth shut or I'll beat you to a pulp!"

Lambo, sensing the scary aura of the bomber nodded and covered his mouth hastily.

"Haha, I'm glad we're planning this and all... but can I ask you guys one more thing?" Yamamoto scratched the back of his head as he waited for everyone to direct their attention at him,

"If we're planning for Tsuna's birthday party... why did we plan it here? In his house I mean..."

* * *

Tsuna groaned a bit in his sleep before slowly waking up. For some reason he could hear some loud voices coming from downstairs. But before he could even get up his bed to check it out, a certain arcobaleno hopped in front of him.

"Ciaossu Dame-Tsuna."

"Hieee! R-Reborn!" The wimpy teen automatically backed away, "Don't scare me like that!"

Reborn merely smirked, "Your guardians are here you know."

Now this snapped Tsuna out of his sleepiness, "W-what? W-what are they doing here?" He was about to leave his bed only to be kicked by Reborn.

"Ow!" The brunet collapsed back on his bed, "What was that for?"

"Do you know what tomorrow is?" The hitman asked with crossed arms.

"Uhm... Saturday?" Tsuna spoke up, about to sit up only to have his face plant on his mattress once more.

"Guess again idiotic student of mine." Reborn pointed at the calendar with a smirk.

Tsuna groaned and followed the direction he was pointing. His eyes landed on the calendar and as he scanned it, his eyes widened for a moment before softening. Reborn noticed the strange action making him raise an eyebrow. But the look on the brunet's face soon vanished as he squinted his eyes as if finally noticing something.

"Reborn... is that...?"

"I'm glad you noticed." Reborn spoke, "I thought you'd never see it. Well... I did try to write it as small as I could-"

"SMALL?" Tsuna pointed at the calendar that had a huge red circle around the 13th and huge characters that marked: _REBORN'S BIRTHDAY!_ "You practically filled the space!"

"Don't be cranky. At least I wrote yours too." Reborn shrugged.

Tsuna had to squint even more as he approached his calendar. The 14th was underlined and small letters wrote: _Dame-Tsuna's birthday._

"I can't even read it! The letters are practically microscopic! And you didn't have to put _'Dame'_- OW!" Once again, he got hit in the head by his tutor.

"Stop complaining Dame-Tsuna and just do what I'm going to tell you." Reborn said, "First of all... I want you to give me the best celebration there is. It's been awhile since I had free time during my birthday and I want to enjoy it now that I got it."

Tsuna grumbled a bit, "Alright, alright already."

"Here's the list of what I want for tomorrow." Reborn handed him a rather long list.

"Geez... you're so childish..." Tsuna muttered as he read the list which consisted some confetti, candies, ingredients for food and so on.

The brunet's eyes then softened as he carefully folded the list, Reborn just observed and was surprised as the other suddenly spoke, "Neh... Reborn, do you think... my friends will know?" he fidgeted nervously as his face went a bit red, "...t-that it'll be my birthday at the fourteenth?"

Reborn blinked. Well that's new.

"You act like a girl sometimes Dame-Tsuna." Reborn wanted to tell the brunet that his friends would apparently know if it's his birthday, but he had better ideas, "What brought this topic up?"

Tsuna looked up and sighed, "I-it's nothing big...- HIEEE!" As soon as he turned to Reborn, he soon found himself face-to-face with a gun. There was a soft click, "_Speak._"

"I-I didn't have friends back then okay? So I never celebrated it with anyone else but mom!" Tsuna explained as fast as he could and sighed as the gun was lowered. Feeling a bit calmer, now that he was sure there was no gun right in front of him, he continued, "And... and now that I actually have friends... I-I thought things would be different now."

"Tell them."

"Eh?"

Reborn faced the calendar by the wall, "Baka-Tsuna, since you just got friends of course they won't realize when your birthday is yet. After all, you idiots don't have time to talk about birthdays since you're too busy fighting for the mafia." The infant smirked inwardly, _'But of course... they should already know.'_

"I-I guess you have a point."

"Of course I do... now get changing... you still have school."

* * *

As soon as Tsuna arrived at the living room he immediately saw his guardians (except for Hibari who had left to start his daily patrol and Lambo who left to play with I-pin), "You guys sure are early." Tsuna commented.

Gokudera looked panicky. Usually he'd be like this when he's obviously hiding something from his precious Juudaime, but fortunately for him, Yamamoto got him covered, "Haha! Well, it was a coincidence!"

"Oh... okay then." Tsuna, the ever so gullible teen, believed the swordsman without any second thoughts before asking, "So have you guys eaten breakfast yet? Y-you can join me. I bet mom won't mind."

"Haha! Sure!"

"It will be a pleasure Juudaime!"

"S-sorry for the intrusion..."

"EXTREME!"

oOoOoOo

The day passed like a blur. Tsuna and company had their normal routine such as listening to boring lectures, having lunch together, listening to more boring crap and have club activities (cleaning activities for Tsuna).

Though, during those normal times, Tsuna was tempted to tell them his birthday but he couldn't bring himself to tell them without feeling really embarrassed.

Maybe he could invite them to go to a movie or something. Then he'll have a reason to tell them it's his birthday!

"Yeah! That's a great idea!" He said, mostly to himself, thus earning him some weird looks, much to his embarrassment. Hastily, he went back to sweeping the classroom and waited for his classmates to leave for him to be able to arrange their seats.

Turning his attention to the windows, he watched as the birds flew by and wondered, _'So what excuse can I use?'_

"An arcade?" He muttered, "Or probably some sushi? Eh? But wait... Yamamoto lives in a sushi shop... so I don't think it will make any sense if I-"

"What are you muttering about Tsuna-kun?" Kyoko suddenly appeared behind the brunet making the other squeal like a girl.

"Hiiiee!"

"Ah! Sorry, did i surprise you?" Kyoko smiled softly. Tsuna calmed as he saw it was only the school idol and smiled nervously, "Ah... no, no...i-it's okay Kyoko-chan."

"So..." The auburn haired girl looked at him expectantly.

"H-huh?"

"What were you muttering about earlier?" She asked looking really interested.

"Oh... t-that... it's nothing really." Tsuna looked down the ground and continued sweeping, "Uh... Kyoko-chan..."

"Hm?" Curios hazel eyes stared at the young boss.

"W-what do you think is a fun hang out with friends... d-during a birthday and all?" Tsuna had no idea why his face was heating up. Was it because the question was obviously about his birthday? He was never the type to usually think about himself and it was taking a lot of his pride to be honest.

Fortunately for him... Kyoko didn't seem to be the observant type as she put a finger on her chin and think, "Well... what about a movie? Ah! But I guess... it won't be that much fun since you'd be too focused on the movie. You should at least be celebrating it- what about a picnic?"

"A p-picnic?"

Kyoko nodded, "Yap! Think about it! Hanging out under the blue sky... enjoying the weather, getting to talk with your friends... it will surely be a celebration to enjoy!"

"Ah... I guess you have a point..." Tsuna muttered and turned to Kyoko, "T-Thanks a lot for the suggestion Kyoko-chan!"

"No problem." Kyoko smiled brightly, "What made you ask that by the way?"

Turning red once more, the brunet turned away and continued sweeping, "I-it's nothing!"

The school idol just watched him before giggling softly and soon left.

After how many minutes later, Yamamoto had arrived from his baseball practice, as well as Gokudera who just came from his detention and just in time as he finished his cleaning duties. He had just needed to chang the flowers on the teacher's table with daffodils.

"Let's get going shall we?" Yamamoto grinned.

"Ah... wait." The young boss then remebered the list he was given, "I have some things to buy for Reborn... y-you guys go on home without me."

"It's fine Juudaime! We'll help you buy the stuff Reborn-san needed!" Gokudera hastily suggested.

"E-eh? Really?"

"Yeah! Sure why not? We don't mind!" Yamamoto assured.

Tsuna looked at them back and forth before smiling, "T-thanks!"

* * *

_**Grocery Store**_

"That sure is a long list of food." Yamamoto commented as he read the list, then he noticed something that was out of place, "Streamers? Confetti? What are those for?"

Tsuna was checking the spices on the shelves before turning to Yamamoto, "U-uh... I think they're for Reborn's b-birthday tomorrow."

Yamamoto and Gokudera perked up at hearing the _'birthday'_ word, "It's the kid's birthday tomorrow?"

Tsuna felt an opportunity come by since the topic at hand was luckily about birthdays, "Y-yeah! A-and well... about that..."

Yamamoto and Gokudera exchanged looks and gulped. They had to pretend they had no idea when the brunet's birthday is! And the act must go on until the appointed time! SO that means... no matter what, they must not _pretend_ to discover about his birthday!

"Y-You see..." Tsuna nervously fidgeted, "This Sunday I'd-"

"Oh yeah! So is the kid having a huge party or something?" Yamamoto immediately cuts in.

"Of couse! I-I mean, look at the list! Reborn-san must surely be planning a party!" Gokudera stammered, "Right Juudaime?"

Tsuna blinked as the two looked at him and nodded nonetheless, "U-un. I-I guess so." Then he continued, "B-but as I was saying... about this Sunday-"

Yamamoto sneaked another peak to the list before looking up and stared at some shelves, "Oh hey look! Eggs! Come on Tsuna! Let's go get some!"

"B-but wait-!"

"Maa! Maa! We need to get this stuff as soon as possible right? The kid might get upset! His birthday is coming soon and he needs these stuff prepared for tomorrow right?" Yamamoto intervened.

Tsuna looked hesitant but nodded, "I guess you're right."

Yamamoto glanced back at Gokudera who in return gave him a nod. The baseball star grinned and continued dragging the brunet to the egg section.

Avoiding birthday topic and still pretending like clueless idiots-plan was a _SUCCESS!_

_TIMESKIP_

So in the end... the stuff Tsuna had bought were all for nothing as his mom had apparently planned a surprise party for the young hitman at Yamamoto's sushi place. The young boss had found this suspicious no doubt. I mean... how did his mom know when Reborn's birthday was?

"Happy birthday Reborn-kun!" Nana greeted cheerfully as she pulled a confetti pop.

Well... at least the confettis were used.

"Oh _my_ Reborn... may you have more birthdays to come!" Bianchi held the infant's face soothingly.

"Hope we surprised you kid!" Tsuyoshi said while giving the tutor a grin similar to his son.

"Thank you Maman, Bianchi, and Yamamoto-san." Reborn said as he faced them. Meanwhile, Lambo jumped around the room in excitement, "Party! Party!"

"Let's eat!" Fuuta spoke in excitement as he stared at the delicious feast on the table.

Tsuna sighed as he watched his family then at the food before him. He suddenly got this crazy idea of cooking food for the picnic with his friends. Which was of course, troubling him since he had no experience of cooking or whatsoever.

Shaking his head, he decided to deal with that little problem later and looked around as he finally took notice of a certain person's absence. He turned to Tsuyoshi, "Uhm... Yamamoto-san... where's Yamamoto?"

"Eh? Takeshi?" Tsuyoshi stabbed his knife on the chopping board, which surprised and scared Tsuna for a second, "Hmm, I think he went out. I haven't seen him all day at all. Why?"

"Ah... no apparent reason."

"Why don't you go out and look for him Dame-Tsuna?" The brunet turned to his tutor in shock, "It's only normal for a boss to worry for his subordinates."

"Like I said- they're not my subordinates!" Tsuna exclaimed.

Reborn decided to ignore the brunet and cotinued, "It would be better if you go. You're bumming my birthday out with your constant sighing."

"W-what? I-I don't sigh that much!" Tsuna stood up, "Fine! I'm going!" And with that, he left.

"Arra? Where's Tsu-kun going? I got his favourite sushi." Nana spoke up as she approached the arcobaleno.

"He had some important matters to attend to." Reborn replied with a smirk.

* * *

The small teen stuffed his cold hands in his pockets. He never realized the weather had been this cold. Sighing, he had no idea why he just left like that. He'll apologize to Reborn later for being rude.

He looked down the ground as he continued walking. He had no idea why he was so into this. He never got this worked up during his birthdays. I mean, there was even that year when he forgot about his own birthday, even his mom! And if it weren't for his father sending him a gift, they'd ended up not celebrating a birthday at all.

oOoOoOo

"_Tsu-kun... why won't you invite some friends to celebrate?" Caramel eyes stared softly at the small boy drawing on the ground._

_The boy blinked and blushed, "B-but... Tsu-kun has no one t-to ask to..._

_Tsu-kun... has no friends..._

oOoOoOo

Releasing a sigh Tsuna shut his eyes, "Yeah... that's right."

"_And... and now that I actually have friends... I-I thought things would be different now."_

"Hopefully..." The brunet muttered as he kicked a pebble. His heart felt heavy, and he was obviously upset. His special day was coming in no less than 24 hours. And he still hasn't invited his friends to the picnic. His eyes shadowed, was it even necessary to make such a useless effort?

It would bound to fail one way or another. This was Dame-Tsuna after all.

Tsuna clenched his fists and was about to look away when a bright shop stopped him from his tracks. His eyes widened as he realized it was a bake shop. He stared at the beautifully decorated cakes and he couldn't help but approach the cake store in interest.

"Uwaah... they look so good." He whispered, then his eyes caught sight of a recipe book. Blinking, he approached the small book stand and picked up the book. Flipping the pages he stared at the simple recipes that showed. His eyes widened as he realized he could use them for the picnic.

'_T-they do look easy enough. I might just pull this off.' _Then something struck him, _'B-but I have no ingredients!'_ Then he luckily remembered the food he bought for Reborn, "I can use those!"

Closing the recipe book he entered the store to pay for the book... and at the same time, not noticing his friends just by the end of the road.

"Haha! I think I wanna buy the cake!" Yamamoto turned to Gokudera, who stood beside him with Ryohei and Chrome.

Gokudera watched as Tsuna entered the shop before turning to the rain guardian, "No way! It's a right hand man's duty to get what Juudaime wants!"

"Boss looked like he really wanted the cake." Chrome muttered softly.

"What was Sawada EXTREMELY holding?" Ryohei asked.

"Why don't we ask him when he comes out?" Yamamoto suggested as he took a step forward, only to be stopped by Gokudera, "Oi! We still have our meeting about Juudaime's surprise-"

Unfortunately, before Gokudera could finish his sentence, Tsuna had stepped out of the store with a small plastic bag on his hand and as he was about to leave, he caught sight of them. "E-everyone!" Suddenly his eyes widen as if realizing something and suddenly put the plastic bag behind him.

"Haha! Yoh Tsuna!" Yamamoto then looked at him curiously, "What's up? What are you hiding?"

"I-it's nothing. Uhm..." Tsuna looked sideways, "I-I have to go now... e-excuse me!" He bowed and ran past them with the book tightly wrapped in his arms. They could only look at him in shock and confusion.

"Boss... looked upset." Chrome stated.

"He must be feeling EXTREMELY neglected since we keep pretending we don't know when his EXTREME birthday is." Ryohei concluded.

"Tsuna..." Yamamoto frowned.

And as if on cue, the three guardians turned to the storm guardian. Gokudera was taken aback, "LOOK! I already feel guilty as it is! Don't make it worse! And besides! This is for Juudaime's sake!"

Yamamoto sighed, "Gokudera does have a point... let's just hope things would go right." He turned to the others who nodded at him.

Gokudera clicked his tongue, "It should be..."

_Juudaime deserves this..._

oOoOoOo

Tsuna had texted his mother that he went straight home. Taking the time he had left, he took out the ingredients he bought yesterday and flipped the recipe book open. He first prepared for the tamagoyaki (omelette).

"E-eto... one egg. Ah... but I'll be making a lot... so... four eggs..." The brunet took four eggs from the tray and cracked them open in a mixing bowl. Of course, since this was Dame-Tsuna, he really didn't cracked the eggs as neat as you thought he would.

...water...

...soy sauce...

...sugar...

...bonito flakes...

...vegetable oil...

Tsuna was practically a mess and he felt really embarrassed at that especially since he was just doing the first dish! There was still a lot more to make! Imagine how messier he'd get if he even _manages_ to finish everything.

_TIMESKIP_

The brunet made an exasperated sigh before moving on to his fourth dish! Somehow, he was able to cook the other dishes properly... well some were a bit burnt... and poorly shaped and sliced... but at least they were edible!

He turned to the rice cooker to see if the rice was cooked. The next dish he was to make was apparently, rice balls!

As soon as he was sure they were ready, he took some rice in his salted hands and tried to form them as soon as he put in some filings. As expected, they were poorly shaped as Chrome's... only his was worse. He made another sigh. Will everything even go according to his plan? He wasn't even able to invite his friends to this _supposed _picnic.

The small teen then turned his attention to the small window of the kitchen and stared at the gray sky. He stared... and stared... when slowly his eyes widen. The rice ball in his hand fell on the ground with a _splat_, but Tsuna paid no mind to it as he realized something.

...something really stupid.

_10 o'clock in the evening..._

Tsuna's mom along with Reborn and the others had arrived home from the sushi shop, all of them chattering excitedly with one another. Then Reborn noticed something out of place. The kitchen was a slight mess, but there were traces of effort of someone trying to clean it.

"Oh dear me... I wonder if Tsu-kun tried making a snack..." Nana spoke as she took a peek in the refrigerator. Reborn also did the same and was a bit impressed at the stack of food. They didn't seem perfect, but they were enough to pass. But he soon noticed the unfinished rice ball, which made him raise an eyebrow.

The arcobaleno turned his attention to Tsuna's room and decided to take a little visit.

oOoOoOo

As usual, he did his grand entrance by slamming the door open with a very mighty aura, "Oi Dame-Tsuna! I'm home!"

No response...

Not even a yelp. Reborn frowned and stared at the lump on the young boss' bed. Unhappy that he was indirectly being ignored, he hopped on the lump, which he was thankfully responded with a squeal.

"Hiiieee! R-Reborn!" Finally, the brunet emerged from the covers and turned to his tutor in exasperation.

The hitman of course noticed the red cheeks and puffy eyes, "Are you sick?"

Tsuna hastily covered himself with his blanket, which ended up into a failure as the hitman pulled the blanket away from him, "Answer me."

"O-of course not!" The young boss exclaimed as he looked away turning a little redder.

Reborn raised an eyebrow, "Did you cry then?"

"W-w-w-what are you talking a-a-about?" He was such a terrible liar.

With a sigh, the hitman sat in front of the brunet, "And what was the reason this time? And don't give me that look, we both know you cried."

If it was possible, the brunet had turned as red as tomato.

"Now spill it or I'll shoot you."

oOoOoOo

"_Yap! Think about it! Hanging out under the blue sky... enjoying the weather, getting to talk with your friends... it will surely be a celebration to enjoy!"_

Now... who in the right mind would go to a picnic in such a cold weather? Of course, Tsuna didn't even thought about it, and it was such a humiliating mistake! It was so obvious! So obvious! How did he not realize it?

Reborn had the courtesy to point out of how much an idiot he was, which brought Tsuna to a more depressing state. He was almost willing to throw all the food away but the infant suddenly suggested him to just keep the food... _just in case._

But what else can that food do to him other than remind him of his surprising levels of stupidity?

...

It was now seven in the morning...and the fourteenth of October. Which means...

"Happy Birthday... to me..." Tsuna grumbled as he hugged his pillow closer to his side.

And as if on cue, the door slammed open once more, "Happy Birthday Dame-Tsuna."

"Reborn..." The brunet groaned and sunk deeper to his sheets, "Let me sleep...!"

"Not a chance." And like a déjà vu from last night, he felt the painful kick on his side as his tutor innocently hopped on top of him, "Get dressed, your friends will be coming."

"E-eh?" Tsuna rubbed his painful side before slowly sitting up, "Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun? Why?"

Reborn shrugged before leaving, "They said something about hanging out with you."

Tsuna could only look at his tutor questioningly before deciding to prepare for the day with a bit of depression.

_Outside the Sawada's residence..._

"Okay... so this is where our plan starts!" Gokudera spoke through his walkie-talkie.

Yamamoto chuckled at the sight of the item, "Is that really necessary?"

"Shut up Baseball freak! We need to take precautions as much as possible!" Gokudera glared, "Cellphones won't be enough! We need to be updated as much as possible!"

Yamamoto blinked and grinned, "Okay! So if I remember correctly, Sempai is at the party shop buying the confetti, balloons... then we have Chrome at a bakeshop buying the birthday cake and Hibari... oh wait... haha never mind!"

"Now remember baseball freak... we need to act as normal as possible!" Gokudera warned as he stared at the front door of the young boss' house, "I want this to be perfect for Juudaime."

"Haha... normal is my middle name!" Yamamoto assured.

The door then opened revealing the tired brunet.

"J-Juudaime!" Gokudera straightened up, "Ha-Ha-Ha-"

"Good morning Tsuna! You look tired!" Yamamoto immediately cuts in while giving Gokudera a nervous look.

"H-huh? Oh it's nothing." Tsuna closed the door behind him and approached the two. He turned at Gokudera who stiffened, "What's up Gokudera-kun?"

"N-nothing Juudaime! I-it's not like we're hiding something really import-"

"Today we're going to hang out!" Yamamoto interrupted once more, "We can watch a movie! I bought some tickets yesterday!"

"I-is that why you weren't around yesterday?" Tsuna asked the baseball star.

"Yeah!" No one ever knew that their clueless and innocent baseball idol would be such a good liar, which answers the shocked look the bomber had on his face.

"O-Oh okay then." Tsuna blinked and smiled.

"A-and then after t-that we go to the baseball freak's sushi shop!" Gokudera added.

The brunet looked at Gokudera in confusion, "Is there something wrong?"

"W-what? N-n-no! Not at all Juudaime-!"

"Let's get going then!" Yamamoto grinned as he grabbed the brunet and dragged him to the streets.

oOoOoOo

Tsuna looked at his two friends who were ahead of him in suspicion. His intuition told him something was up as the two were _obviously_ talking about something in secret. He only got more suspicious when the brunet thought he saw Gokudera take out a walkie-talkie.

"So..." Tsuna spoke up, trying to remind them he was still there, "What movie are we going to watch?"

The two turned to the brunet almost too quickly, "O-oh! It's a horror movie called 'Abnormal Activity'! It's a horror film where there were this couple who were being haunted and all... they say it's a true story!"

"Idiot! It's not! I searched those people in the movie in the net and I found out they were just actors!" Gokudera argued.

"Spoiler much? Haha!"

"Shut up!"

Tsuna could chuckle at the two's antics before looking up at the sky. And almost immediately the brunet sighed in depression.

'_The picnic...'_ He sadly thought.

The two guardians noticed this of course and looked back at their friend in worry. Yamamoto was about to say something when suddenly he caught sight of something.

"U-u-um guys!" Yamamoto stammered, "Why don't we get going to the mo-"

"EXTREME BUYING!"

Tsuna was about to turn around but Yamamoto had blocked him, "A-ahaha... that must've been your imagination!"

"I'm sure you didn't hear turf-top at all Juudaime!" Gokudera assured which made the young boss sweat-drop, _'But I didn't say anything...'_

Gokudera hastily glared at the boxer who was in the middle of the streets carrying a lot of balloons and plastic bags full of streamers... and for some weird reason, every step the boxer took... confettis would pop out behind him.

"YOU IDIOT!"

"G-Gokudera-kun-?"

"Maa, maa... why don't we get going to the movie? There's nothing to see here!" Yamamoto said while pushing the confused brunet in another direction. The baseball star gave the bomber a quick glance and a small telepathic message passed through them.

_For Tsuna..._

"Uhm hey... Yamamoto... is something happening?" Tsuna snapped the baseball idiot from his telepathic communication.

"H-huh? What do you mean?"

"Uhm... well..." Tsuna tried to look over the tall teen's shoulder only to have it harder as Yamamoto stood on his toes, "You won't let me see what's happening... whatever's happening behind you."

"It's nothing really!" Yamamoto pushed the other forward, "Now come on! Gokudera told me he'll just catch up!"

"H-Huh? Whwn did he say that?"

"Just now... with a walkie-talkie!"

"W-what?"

oOoOoOo

"Two large popcorns and three large colas?" The cashier repeated as she looked at them expectantly.

"Y-Yes..." Tsuna took out his wallet.

"Let me pay for it!" Yamamoto suggested, but Tsuna shook his head immediately, "I-it's fine! I-I can pay..." _'At least let me pretend I'm treating you guys...for my birthday.'_

Gosh... what a sad thought.

"If you say so." Yamamoto frowned. Suddenly, his phone rang, "Uhm hey... I'll be right back." The baseball star told his friend as he held his mobile.

"O-ok." Tsuna spoke up as he held the plastic bags filled with their snacks.

Yamamoto stepped out the movie and flipped his phone open, "Hello? Gokudera?"

"_Baseball freak... we're in a pinch here... turf-top accidentally threw the stuff he bought in the river by the bridge!"_

"W-what? Why?"

"_He got surprised... when the blow horns suddenly went off..."_

"Why... was there a blow horn?"

"_GAHH! THIS IS GETTING STUPID!"_

"Okay... Gokudera calm down, just buy them again! It's not so hard!"

"_That's the problem..."_ Yamamoto was sure he heard Ryohei in the background yelling something like _'EXTREME EMPTY WALLET!'_

"U-uhm Yamamoto... is that Gokudera?" Yamamoto turned around and saw his precious boss by the entrance still carrying the plastic bags.

"Y-yeah. Sorry had you been waiting long?" Yamamoto turned back to the phone, "Gotta go Gokudera... just buy the stuff again. And come back here as soon as possible! Or Tsuna will get suspicious!"

"_What? Wait base-"_

_Beep._

"What's wrong?" Tsuna asked for the umpteenth time as they entered the movie theatre.

Yamamoto forced a grin, "It's nothing! I swear! It's just... Gokudera will be a little late."

Tsuna frowned and just shook his head. Yamamoto shifted uncomfortably on his seat before turning to the screen. He watched as a small note appeared on the huge screen stating something about the video being borrowed etcetera... etcetera...

"So it's like a home video!" Yamamoto cheerfully exclaimed as he watch the people that suddenly appeared on the screen, "That's original!"

Tsuna looked at Yamamoto and then smiled before turning back to the screen. To be honest, he was always a scaredy-cat when it came to horror films, but he always knew the beginning was never that scary. It only happens during the middle of the show or something.

Of course... sooner or later, the ghosts started making their presence clear, thus, slowly... Tsuna was starting to get the creeps even though the theatre was filled with people.

"Uhm... Yamamoto... where's Gokudera-kun?"

"He's probably still busy..." Yamamoto spoke, totally in trance as he watched the movie.

The brunet sighed before speaking once more, "I have to go to the bathroom." And without even waiting for an answer he left the theatre.

Apparently, he lied about the bathroom thing as he took a step out the building. Just to have a bit of air for a moment. He still felt a bit depressed of having his birthday celebrated that way. Well... at least they'll be having some sushi.

But by then he won't be able to tell them it's his birthday. They'll feel bad and get depressed and- and-!

Tsuna blinked as he undoubtingly saw a certain pineapple-haired girl just by the other side of the road.

"C-Chrome!"

He waved his hand and the girl immediately noticed him. She blinked for a moment before deciding to approach the brunet.

"Boss... what are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same- w-what are you carrying?" Tsuna pointed at the plastic bag in her arms. And inside the see through material was no doubt a...

"It's a pineapple... cake."

Tsuna looked at her then at the sliced pineapple, "Uhm... Chrome... I don't think it's a cake. How did you even get that?" The small teen sweat dropped.

Chrome looked down at the plastic bag in her arms, "Well..."

_Flashback..._

_The sound of the front door of the bakeshop rang as Chrome entered. She looked at the dazzling cakes but neither one of them was what she wanted._

_The baker greeted her, "Welcome customer, is there something you want?"_

"_Cake..." Chrome softly muttered._

"_I see... I see... well then, have you chosen one?" The baker asked as he rubbed his hands together._

_Chrome looked around and shook her head, "Is there... any pineapple cake?"_

_The baker looked shocked for a moment, "I-I'm sorry but we don't have pineapple cakes. Maybe you could choose something else."_

"_Pineapple Cake."_

"_But there's more to choose from-"_

"_Pineapple."_

"_Surely you'd want this strawberry kind-"_

"_Pineapple." Chrome's amethyst eye gleamed, making the baker back away._

_End of Flashback..._

"So... how'd you get the pineapple... actually?" Tsuna asked while pointing at the pineapple once more.

"They gave me the raw ingredient for the pineapple cake instead..." Chrome softly said, "They said it was in the house."

The brunet sweat-dropped, "But wait... what was the cake for?"

For a moment there... the illusionist looked lost. And as if realizing something, she slowly backed away and ran off.

"W-wait! Chrome!" Tsuna was about to run after her-

"Juudaime!" But then Gokudera came into view.

"G-Gokudera-kun! W-where have you been?" Tsuna looked at the bomber who was panting as he approached him.

"G-gomen Juudaime. I just had to deal with some matters." Gokudera said looking tired.

Tsuna looked down and clenched his fists, "Gokudera-kun... if you're busy today... y-you didn't have to hang out with us..."

"What are you talking about Juudaime? It's an honour to be able to hang out with you Juudaime!" Gokudera spoke up, "Now why don't we watch the movie...-"

And just in time people started flooding out the theatre. Yamamoto came out looking as cheerful as ever, "That show was great! Some girls suddenly sat next to me and offered some popcorn! That was sure nice of them!"

Gokudera gaped at the baseball star, then at Tsuna. The brunet sighed. For some reason, he was expecting this. Yamamoto noticed Gokudera and approached the bomber, "OH! Gokudera! There you are!"

And before he knew it, they were back to talking with each other and with him left out.

He looked down once more and shut his eyes. Here he was, wasting his birthday just by pretending he's actually treating them because it's his birthday which is the lowest of the low if he may add.

"_Baka-Tsuna, since you just got friends of course they won't realize when your birthday is yet. After all, you idiots don't have time to talk about birthdays since you're too busy fighting for the mafia."_

Tsuna looked at the two before turning to the sky.

Having a hang out with his friends who seem to always left him out, and then having the thought of supposedly having the picnic on his birthday as he cheerfully announce to them his special day, and finally the pressure of not being able to tell them... it was all too much. He was gonna explode in pure depression!

So as Dame-Tsuna... there was only one thing he can do when things get too much for him.

"So... what now?" Yamamoto looked at Gokudera, who looked really bummed out.

"I don't know. Tch. I knew those idiots can never be trusted." Gokudera scowled.

"Maa, maa... I'm sure they did their best." The baseball teen assured before turning around, "Well anyway, I guess we'll just have to celebrate with sushi-"

Gokudera raise an eyebrow and turned around as well. Then he looked around as well, "Where's Juudaime?"

"I-I don't know! He was here awhile ago!" Yamamoto exclaimed as he tried to look over the crowd.

"Come on! He's gotta be around somewhere!"

And with that the two ran off, trying to search for their precious tenth.

* * *

Tsuna sighed as he stopped under a bridge and lied on the slope. He couldn't believe it. He just ran away from them. How could he have left them like that?

What a friend he was.

"Herbivore..." Tsuna looked around and was shocked to see Hibari, "H-Hibari-san!"

"Come with me."

"E-eh? WHY?" Tsuna almost backed away, afraid that the prefect would beat him up. What was he even doing there?

"Come with me or I'll bite you to death."

"HIIIEEE!" Unfortunately for Tsuna, he didn't even estimate how close he was to the river and so when he decided to back up a little more...-

_SPLASH!_

Hibari just stared at the brunet. He didn't even bother to help him. He just stared at the pathetic herbivore in front of him.

"Hiiee! It's cold!" Tsuna hastily stood up from the freezing water and wrapped his arms around himself.

"Herbivore..."

Tsuna turned to the prefect when something suddenly blocked his vision, "T-this is-?"

* * *

Gokudera and Yamamoto had managed to gather Ryohei and Chrome to go search for the brunet when the bomber's phone suddenly rang. He took out his phone and saw it was Hibari. He flipped his phone open.

"Hibari-"

"_I'm taking the herbivore to the sushi shop. Get ready."_

"Wait! What? Don't! The plan must be aborted! We don't have enough time-"

"_Thirty minutes 'til we arrive."_

"Oi Listen-!"

"_A carnivore never backs down on a hunt. He always finds a way to get the prey and win."_

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Gokudera stared at the phone with wide eyes. Yamamoto and the others exchanged looks. The baseball star stepped up, "Gokudera-?"

"Where's the nearest bakeshop?" Gokudera had flipped his phone close and pocketed it.

The three looked at him in confusion once more, "W-why?"

Gokudera suddenly turned to them with a smirk, "What's a party, without a cake?"

oOoOoOo

_Sawada's Residence..._

Reborn looked at the watch before turning to Nana who was cleaning the kitchen, "Maman, can you please help me wrap up the food Tsuna made?"

Nana looked at Reborn, "Sure! But why? Are you going to throw them out?"

Reborn smirked, "No. Tsuna made them with a purpose... and that purpose... shall be fulfilled."

Nana could only blink in confusion but agreed nonetheless, when suddenly she spoke up, "I wonder how Tsu-kun's friends are doing with their surprise party."

Apparently, the guardians were a bit too loud during their meeting.

* * *

They were running out of time. Five minutes left until Tsuna and Hibari arrived at the sushi shop. Gokudera clicked his tongue as he continued running through the cold streets, whilst pushing people out of the way. Yamamoto, Ryohei and Chrome were right behind him, trying to catch up with the enthusiastic bomber.

They had bought a cake. A simple round cake decorated with white icing and strawberries, as well as a simple _'Happy Birthday' _written on top.

It wasn't the best, but they had no other choice... it was better than nothing.

Two minutes left and they were waiting for the red light to turn green. Gokudera couldn't wait any longer and rush through the traffic. Surprisingly, the other guardians followed without any care. Some people shouted and screamed but they ignored them.

They ran past cars and hopped over their hoods as they would randomly stop.

"_What were those kids thinking?"_

They heard one of them yell, but once again, they couldn't bring themselves to care.

It was their friend's birthday. It wasn't only _his_ special day, it was also _their _special day. For it was the day he was born! And they were glad about that. Because, if he never existed, they would have never met the kindest, sweetest, bravest and understanding boss ever!

If it weren't for Tsuna, Yamamoto would've jumped off the roof at that day he was so blinded by baseball.

If it weren't for Tsuna, Gokudera would still be a lone criminal of the Mafia. With no one to follow and with no one to trust.

If it weren't for Tsuna, Ryohei wouldn't have believed there were any other people who could actually be as EXTREME as him.

If it weren't for Tsuna, Chrome wouldn't have known what it felt like to have normal friends (no offence to Ken and Chikusa) and how fun it was to go out shopping with Kyoko and Haru. She wouldn't have been able to meet them at all either and would just remain in her shell for all eternity.

If they never met Tsuna... if he didn't leave a mark on their lives... if he never existed...

Gokudera clenched the box of the cake.

_...no one can ever imagine a life without Sawada Tsunayoshi..._

And that's why... they were here right now. Just meters away from the sushi shop and there... they saw- Hibari and Tsuna. Standing right outside the door.

They all panted as they stare at the two. Tsuna had his eyes shadowed and he was wearing a frown for some reason.

They all exchanged looks. They were a _little _late.

"5 minutes late Herbivore." Hibari even had the courtesy to tell them.

Gokudera clenched the box, before stopping as he realized he was damaging the cake. He immediately handed the box to Yamamoto and opened it. And as expected... the cake was ruined. The icing was all scattered and the cake was a bit mashed.

"Quick, the lighter."

Ryohei gave him a box of matches. Gokudera felt a vein pop, "Where's the lighter?!" He demanded.

"It fell in the river too." The sun guardian whispered.

The bomber wanted to hit the sun guardian but he had no time for that. "Tch." With that, he grabbed a matchstick and scratched it on the side of the box.

A gust of wind immediately blew the small flame away, just as it had lit too. Gokudera clicked his tongue and tried again.

Suddenly, Tsuna started walking towards them.

This made everyone panic.

"B-Boss wait!" Chrome spoke up and looked at the unprepared cake. However, Tsuna just continued on his way.

Gokudera took another matchstick, but this time he was able to light the candles on the cake. But sadly they were out in an instant, thanks to the cold breeze that happened to pass by.

"Kuso!" Gokudera took another stick and lit it, but suddenly a pair of cold hands held his, stopping him from lighting the candle "Wha-!"

As Gokudera looked up, his emerald eyes widened at the sight he saw.

Tears were streaming down on the pale face of the wet brunet. The bomber was so shocked, he dropped the lit match on the ground that immediately went out with a small hiss.

"Tsuna... y-you're wet!" Yamamoto exclaimed.

"O-oi! Why are you crying? A-are you mad?" Ryohei asked, looking really concerned.

"B-Boss if your upset... be-because of your b-birthday... we-we just-" Chrome tried to reason, however, Tsuna halted her as he spoke up.

"_Arigatou..."_

They were all stunned at the single word they never expected him to say.

Why was he thanking them?

_Why was he FREAKING thanking them?_

The party was a failure... they bought him a ruined cake... and they pretended they had no idea when his birthday was. So why was he THANKING them?

"He found out. Stupid herbivores." Hibari spoke up as he pointed at the brunet's hand. Apparently, Tsuna was holding something, and they never noticed it until now... and it was...

"A...a confetti? I don't understand." Gokudera said while eyeing the string of confetti in his hand.

Tsuna hiccupped, "I-I saw it in the river when I-I fell in it. T-there was a lot of stuff t-there that were k-kind of out of place..."

"You fell in a river-?"

"T-that's not the point!" Tsuna went red from slight embarrassment, "W-what I'm saying is that... I'm... I'm so sorry. Y-You've been planning a-a s-surprise party and... I've only been w-worried t-that..."

"They'd forget you're birthday?"

They all turned around and saw Reborn with a huge picnic basket beside him. He had a smirk on his face and stepped forward, "Well... did you?" He turned to the guardians.

"O-of course not!" Gokudera exclaimed.

"We... we would never forget Boss' birthday." Chrome shyly stated.

"We're your EXTREME friends after all." Ryohei grinned.

A coat was then hung over the brunet's shoulder making him look up only to see Yamamoto's smiling face, "Well... even though we just knew about your birthday this year."

"T-the point is Juudaime! It was my entire fault!" Gokudera stepped in front of the young boss, "I-I wanted to surprise you more by pretending... w-we didn't remember your birthday... we... I'M SO SORRY JUUDAIME!"

"Hiieee! It's fine! It's fine!" Tsuna exclaimed as Gokudera suddenly dropped on his knees and hands and was about to do his usual punishment by hitting his forehead over and over again only to be stopped by Reborn, who gladly he hit him on the head.

"You're only upsetting the birthday boy." Reborn huffed before turning to Tsuna, "For today, I'll let you off without training. That'll be my birthday gift for you."

"T-thank you."

Reborn just smirked, "Now why don't we get inside and enjoy the food Dame-Tsuna made?" The hitman patted the picnic basket beside him. The brunet immediately went red while the others exchanged shock looks.

Suddenly a black afro stuck out of the picnic bag and out came our young Bovino.

"Delicious!" Lambo said as he ate some omelettes.

"O-oi! You stupid cow! Don't hog all the food!" Gokudera grabbed Lambo and forcibly pulled him out of the basket.

Tsuna turned to Reborn when suddenly, he realized something, "Y-you planned this... didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?" The smirk was still there, much to the brunet's annoyance.

"The reason why you let me buy all those ingredients-"

"I have no idea where you're getting at." Reborn turned around and walked towards the sushi shop, "Let's get inside where it's warm."

Tsuna didn't even realize he was shivering. He could only sigh but nonetheless smiled at the hitman's direction, _'Thanks... Reborn.'_

"Shall we get in?" A hand was on his shoulder and Tsuna turned to look at Yamamoto, then at Gokudera who grinned at him.

He smiled back.

Chrome and Ryohei exchanged looks while Hibari merely yawned. Then they all (except for the cloud, as always) turned to their one and only Boss and spoke with huge smiles on their faces;

"Happy Birthday!"

_**The END**_

* * *

_**YEAH! Please Review!**_

Belated happy birthday to you again Tsuna!


End file.
